This invention relates to a universally adjustable pad for positioning a patient in a chair.
The need for a device to position a patient within a chair, such as in a wheelchair, is becoming increasingly important. Medical and equipment technology now enables more patients to utilize wheelchairs rather than being bedridden.
Increased emphasis recently has been placed on the potential of independent, or self-help, activities of those confined to wheelchairs due to physical or mental impairments or deficiencies. Increased function of the patient's body is essential, and to this end it is often desirable to be able to provide a form of support either of the thigh, hip, or torso to permit the patient to be most comfortable or to function to the greatest degree in an effort and with his own ability to attempt to provide some form of care and movement for himself.
The patient may be handicapped or have a deficiency which prevents him from maintaining full control over his bodily movements due to loss of motor control, lack of muscle tone, slow response to correct inaccurate actuation of muscular activity, congenital or birth defects, or abnormal growth structure. Positioning of such individuals in a seated position to allow them to function most efficiently with their handicap or disability may require limiting or restricting the movement of the thigh, hip or torso, either bilaterally or unilaterally.
A general object of the present invention is to provide a novel device for positioning a patient in a chair which is simply and economically constructed to produce the desired results set out above.
More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a novel positioning device which is shiftable to selected, adjusted positions to provide positioning control in the areas of the hip, thigh, or torso of the patient and which is mounted on the arm of the chair for selected movement longitudinally of the arm to provide the widest possible range of positioning for the support pad in the device to reach and provide support for all such regions of a patient's body.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide such a novel positioning device which includes a body engaging pad, an attaching clamp for securing the same to the underside of the arm of the chair, and connecting means connecting the pad to the attaching clamp which is operable to provide universal swinging movement of the pad about a plurality of angularly disposed axes, yet which does not structurally protrude to a significant degree beyond the overall limits of the chair, whereby it does not interfere with movement of the patient's arms and self propulsion of the chair through manual operation of the chair wheels.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a novel positioning device which may be attached to a detachable arm on a wheelchair, secured in a selected position relative to the arm for supporting a patient in a chair, and upon removal of the arm, travels with the arm to permit ease of entrance and exit from the chair without varying adjustment settings on the pad relative to the arm of the chair.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a novel positioning device which permits a wheelchair to be folded as intended by the manufacturer regardless of the location of the device without moving it from its selected adjusted position.